Elite...no Social hour, just drink vouchers

[Oxo]

Why is it that the drinks are only from 5-7 PM when late seating dinner isn't until 8:30 pM? We like to have some wine before dinner, but not as early as the times listed. What is there to do after 7 PM until dinner? On Royal, we are Diamond and will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. WE usually go to the Diamons lounge an hour before dinner for a few glasses of wine before dinner.

Wish they would change the times.

 

Totally agree with you. No consideration for late diners.

[Orator]

One always has the option to purchase a drink after the Elite Hour ends. Extending the free drink period even a half hour would affect bar service in other venues since those who serve normally work other venues including the MDR.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Orator

[cruisestitch]

It is highly unlikely that they will change the times, sorry. No time works for everyone.

[ECCruise]

Why is it that the drinks are only from 5-7 PM when late seating dinner isn't until 8:30 pM? We like to have some wine before dinner, but not as early as the times listed. What is there to do after 7 PM until dinner? On Royal, we are Diamond and will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. WE usually go to the Diamons lounge an hour before dinner for a few glasses of wine before dinner.

Wish they would change the times.

 

If you go to the shows, with the exception of formal night, they will likely be before your dinner hour.

Edited August 27, 2014 by ECCruise

[CruisingChick]

Totally agree with you. No consideration for late diners.

 

We have no problem with it since the shows for late seating dining (99% of the time) begin at 7:00 PM. We leave the lounge around 6:45 - 6:50 to go down to the theater, then after the show it's a stop at the martini bar and then to the dining room at 8:30 PM.

 

Having said that we did enjoy on our Explorer cruise we could go to the Diamond event until 8:30 PM. But I am not going to complain since this perk is much better than it was initially.

[Kevnzworld]

I show up at the Rendezvous Lounge at 6:55 with our six drink coupons...

They line up six glasses of wine. We are set until we eat at 8:30, and have a glass left for dinner

If you tip the bartenders, they sometimes stop looking at the time....

Edited August 27, 2014 by Kevnzworld

[Wine-O]

Why is it that the drinks are only from 5-7 PM when late seating dinner isn't until 8:30 pM? We like to have some wine before dinner, but not as early as the times listed. What is there to do after 7 PM until dinner? On Royal, we are Diamond and will get Elite benefits on Celebrity. WE usually go to the Diamons lounge an hour before dinner for a few glasses of wine before dinner.

Wish they would change the times.

 

Yeah, and the folks who have early dining at 6pm complain that they only have one hour of Elite drinks before dinner. :eek:

 

I guess Celebrity just can't seem to please everyone. :rolleyes:

 

If you like the Diamond benefits of Royal, then sail RCL. I'm just happy with the perks of Celebrity. ;)

[Orator]

And I thought that people attended the Elite Hour to meet their fellow cruisers and engage in some good conversation. I'm shocked to learn that free drinks are the real draw.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Orator

[vulcan1971]

And I thought that people attended the Elite Hour to meet their fellow cruisers and engage in some good conversation. I'm shocked to learn that free drinks are the real draw.

 

Thank you.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[fb0075]

If you read-- it says that the SKYLOUNGE is still open for cocktail hour--

 

and the food is still there also!!

 

FRANK

[Christine Frances]

Totally agree with you. No consideration for late diners.

 

Absolutely no consideration for early diners:mad: We get one hour 4-5pm!!! I would rather it went back to 4-6:D

[upwarduk]

Absolutely no consideration for early diners:mad: We get one hour 4-5pm!!! I would rather it went back to 4-6:D

 

But then if you were out on a tour, you would miss it completely.

 

But I thought Elite drinks were from 5-7pm!:cool:

Is there a Happy Hour from 4-5 and where?

Edited August 27, 2014 by upwarduk

[ECCruise]

Absolutely no consideration for early diners:mad: We get one hour 4-5pm!!! I would rather it went back to 4-6:D

 

 

HUH?

Elite event is 5-7 nightly

[C 2 C]

Just received an email telling us there are too many Elites on our cruise and we will be given drink 3 vouchers each day to be used at any bar instead of the Captains Club Social Hour.

 

We just received our notice today:

 

We look forward to welcoming you on Celebrity Millennium® on her September 12, 2014 voyage. We want to let you know that, due to the extraordinary popularity of this sailing with our Elite members, during the Captain's Club Lounge social hour we'll be offering you the choice to enjoy your evening cocktails in your lounge or at various bars and lounges throughout the ship. This will allow us to continue to provide you with the highest quality service while allowing you the opportunity to experience each venue's unique ambiance.

 

On your upcoming cruise, you'll receive three (3) Elite Beverage Vouchers for each evening. The days and hours of your Captain's Club Lounge remain the same, so you'll be sure to find fellow Elites in the Sky Lounge enjoying canapés or out enjoying their social hour in the various venues.

 

We look forward to making your cruise an enjoyable one and hope you enjoy exploring the exciting venues we have on board Celebrity Millennium®.

[C 2 C]

And I thought that people attended the Elite Hour to meet their fellow cruisers and engage in some good conversation. I'm shocked to learn that free drinks are the real draw.

 

You sometimes need the drinks to loosen the vocal cords... and to help forget some of the "interesting" comments made by those same cruisers on these boards. ;)

[Oxo]

One always has the option to purchase a drink after the Elite Hour ends. Extending the free drink period even a half hour would affect bar service in other venues since those who serve normally work other venues including the MDR.

 

Yes, you always have the option to purchase a drink after the Elite hour ends or the Elite hour begins. However, that is not the point. Why not move the drink period a half hour later to resolve your concern of the affect/effect of bar service in other venues would be since those who serve normally work other venues including the MDR?

 

Your response is totally pro Celebrity and anti client/guest. JMHO!

[Christine Frances]

HUH?

 

Elite event is 5-7 nightly

 

 

The original hours were from 4-6. And sorry:( I miss-typed. Early seating only gets from 5-6.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[phoenix_dream]

My understanding is that by now almost all of the RCI ships have been modified to include a Diamond Lounge (there are only a couple exceptions left I believe). And by mid-September, the three drinks will be loaded onto each Diamond members card, and they can be used as stated in a post above. This will be in addition to being able to go to the Diamond Lounge, and the three drinks are in addition to any you may get in the Lounge. Not sure how they are handling it for ships without a lounge. So considering they are all part of the same company, I see no reason Celebrity could not adopt that system as well and I would bet it won't be long before it is done. I am basing this strictly on speculation, but I'll bet when they get done programming it for all the RCI ships, they will consider starting on Celebrity.

 

On Celebrity, we have had vouchers once and we loved them (we did not have a drink package on that cruise). I am a lightweight drinker, so would order a can or two of diet coke to take back to the cabin (unopened). We also felt free to carry an unfinished drink into the dining room, which you cannot do when you are in the Elite lounge (which makes no sense now that they have the drink coupons, but oh well). I agree that the coupons are meant for the use of people who have earned the Elite level by their loyalty to the company. There are things that you CAN get away with, but they are not necessarily the things you should do. I would not feel right giving drinks away to others. The coupons are being put in place to make the benefit more comfortable and 'user friendly' for the Elite or higher customers. To use that gesture of good customer service against the giver seems wrong to me. Just my opinion.

[harz99]

We just received our notice today:

 

I should take the content of the message with a huge pinch of salt. On our Asia B2B earlier this year, Millenium also had vouchers for the first two weeks with the same message.

 

However, despite what was written the number of Elites had nothing to do with the decision. What was happening was that Park West had a number of art "experts" on board who were involved in private art auctions in the Sky Lounge, to the exclusion of all other guests, Elite or not.

 

After being told by Park West staff that we had to leave as the room was theirs at about 6pm on the first night, I raised fairly forcefully with the bar supervisor that a) I took exception to Park West staff telling me what to do, b) their show did not start until after the Elite drinks hours had finished, and c) we had been told the room would still be available.

 

Suffice to say that for the rest of that cruise leg, we (and about 30 others) were able to use the Sky Lounge. For the second leg there were no art auctions and the normal Elite event took place.

[Littlegov]

Frankly, the experience turned me on chardonnay. I used to drink it all the time. Now, not so much. The red was okay - I'm no conniseur when it comes to wine.

 

So much better to have vouchers. Just came back from Summit with NO VOUCHERS. HAD TO HAVE DRINK IN REVELATIONS between 5-7 when we wanted drinks much later before our late dinning. Was not happy. Thy did nothing when we complained. In march we were on ininity with vouchers on B2b where we had out drink in any bar an anytime. So much more flexible.

Celbrity shoul get their act together, because it isn't a perk o hav it when we are not ready.

[C 2 C]

I see no reason Celebrity could not adopt that system as well and I would bet it won't be long before it is done. I am basing this strictly on speculation, but I'll bet when they get done programming it for all the RCI ships, they will consider starting on Celebrity.

 

Royal has wonderful scanners for such mundane tasks as recording attendance at muster drill. Celebrity still records attendance by printed sheet manually. Royal has an IT department. Celebrity has shown nothing but ineptitude in making their website work. I wish they would "consider starting on Celebrity."

[harz99]

My understanding is that by now almost all of the RCI ships have been modified to include a Diamond Lounge (there are only a couple exceptions left I believe). And by mid-September, the three drinks will be loaded onto each Diamond members card, and they can be used as stated in a post above. This will be in addition to being able to go to the Diamond Lounge, and the three drinks are in addition to any you may get in the Lounge. Not sure how they are handling it for ships without a lounge. So considering they are all part of the same company, I see no reason Celebrity could not adopt that system as well and I would bet it won't be long before it is done. I am basing this strictly on speculation, but I'll bet when they get done programming it for all the RCI ships, they will consider starting on Celebrity.

 

 

I see absolutely no chance of that happening at all. We first had vouchers on the Reflection inaugural TA nearly two years ago, and as I posted above the vouchers are now being used for spurious reasons.

 

If anything, I expect Royal to try to offer vouchers only at some point in the future.:(

[C 2 C]

 

Suffice to say that for the rest of that cruise leg, we (and about 30 others) were able to use the Sky Lounge. For the second leg there were no art auctions and the normal Elite event took place.

 

Applause! :D

[harz99]

Applause! :D

 

LOL. I would love to claim the credit but suspect that the experts and buyers had left the ship at Hong Kong.:o

[eby]

So much better to have vouchers. Just came back from Summit with NO VOUCHERS. HAD TO HAVE DRINK IN REVELATIONS between 5-7 when we wanted drinks much later before our late dinning. Was not happy. Thy did nothing when we complained. In march we were on ininity with vouchers on B2b where we had out drink in any bar an anytime. So much more flexible.

Celbrity shoul get their act together, because it isn't a perk o hav it when we are not ready.

 

I thought the vouchers had to be used at certain bars between 5-7.Has this change and you can used then at any time?